Magnesium is an important element for the body’s basic functioning. Its effects are broad and numerous, including helping with blood pressure control, bone growth, and heart rhythm regulation. The element is also key to blood sugar control and to the production of DNA and protein.
It’s particularly important for those who struggle with poor sleep and mental health disorders like anxiety and depression because magnesium plays an important role in brain health. Here’s a closer look at why magnesium helps with anxiety.
How Magnesium Helps Anxiety and Stress
Magnesium plays a key role in brain activity, especially in hormones that regulate pathways of depression and anxiety. A 2017 study published in the journal Nutrients found that supplementation with magnesium regulates emotions because, according to the study, the nutrient “modulates activity of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis (HPAA), which is a central substrate of the stress response system.”
